We slept well and did a bit of washing and sorting before we headed for the bus stop and a trip to the waterfront. We were aiming to take the Seabus to North Vancouver before the heat of the day kicked in.  Our day passes were bought with this trip in mind and proved easy to use.

The Seabus is a passenger-only ferry that crosses the Burrard Inlet, connecting Downtown Vancouver with the North Shore. Each ferry can seat up to 400 passengers at a time, and departs every 15 minutes during the day. We had only a short wait at each end for the ferry and there was plenty of room on board, although it may be busier in commuting hours.

After getting drinks, we wandered around the Lonsedale Market which is very close to the terminal. It is undercover and permanent so not quite what we think of as a market. It is a shame we are not here longer as there was a lot of nice fresh food for sale as well as the usual tourist items.

We stayed on the North side long enough to also find a couple of caches. It seemed a nice laid back area and we enjoyed our time here.

Back in the city, we took the train to near the Terry Fox Plaza and walked the rest of the way. We had heard about Terry last visit. Terry Fox was a young man who lost his leg to cancer and responded to this loss with the Marathon of Hope to fundraise for cancer research. Terry started his run across Canada in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980. He began his journey with little fanfare but he wasn't alone. He had his friend Doug and brother Darrell to support him along the daily challenge. Although few people outside Terry’s circle of support initially realized what Terry was attempting, word gradually got out and enthusiasm soon grew. People wanted to help Terry with his challenge and sent donations, words of support, and, in some cases, literally came out to run beside him. Terry ran close to 42 kilometres a day through Canada’s Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. On September 1st, after 143 days and over 5,000 kilometres, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Cancer had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22. Although the spread of cancer to Terry's lungs ended his run, he challenged us, before his death, to continue his marathon on his behalf.

We stopped for a bit to eat then confirmed it was too hot to do anything outside so headed back to the studio. We had planned to book an historic tour of Gastown that I had left on the computer. Before we went out, John was not sure how he would feel about a night tour. On our return he felt he would be fine but sadly by now it was fully booked. I found another which was Ghost themed and booked that after trying a couple of other sites to see if we could get into the one I really wanted.

While John snoozed I bussed to another area to check out a park and a sign and get three caches. The third became interesting. You needed a photo with our cache name written and at the big sign placed in the area. Getting both in with a phone was not working so I asked a passing woman to help. I said it was an odd request but I needed a photo for a treasure hunt. She held the sign for me after being assured she would not be in the photo. I showed her the photo I took and she was happy enough although agreed it was a peculiar thing to be asked to do!!

Back in the studio we sorted the packing and contacted the host with a couple of questions. Then we headed for downtown and the tour. It was very much a ghost tour so not really what we wanted but it was well done for the theme. The company talk to the local paranormal society and have done a lot of research into ‘ghosts’ by talking to the people in the various places there have been reports. Gastown is the oldest part of Vancouver city and also the place of a large fire so the tour is based there. We heard about a shop where items often moved and a man, who seemed benign, who has been seen in one of the oldest buildings in the area. There are tunnels under the city and it was also suggested that a less benign spirit seemed to be in one of these tunnels. In another spot a doctor has been seen and a woman dressed in heavy black clothing heading for a gate which sometimes opens or closes by itself. The suggestion is that she was a prostitute who had had an abortion in the nearby road from a butcher, and the doctor is appearing to try to help her after it went wrong. The old spaghetti factory has an old tram carriage inside with its own tramman and also a small boy. As many of the places were restaurants and the ghosts appear at closing time the sceptic in me thinks of a different form of spirit being the source of the visions.

The actual history of the area was also alluded to and that was of more interest to me. We were reminded that Vancouver is a very young city, younger than Nelson, although that is based on European settlement, as the first people were here before this. Originally the railway stopped short of what is now Vancouver, but the locals brought people here to see the harbour and persuaded them to go the extra distance.

A few years later, a big fire killed about 30 people and destroyed most of Gastown. It was rebuilt and formed the basis of the city.

Skid Row was explained to us. Areas close to the harbour would flood and the footing be dangerous for both people and animals. Skids or lengths of timber would be put down to assist. To stop the timber rotting it would be oiled using fish oil. This was smelly. So the poorest people would live in the area, as if you could afford it you lived away from the smell. The term began in either Vancouver or San Francisco… probably San Francisco really.

We saw the Steam Clock and were told that for many years it was a fraud. A clock was built that did run on steam but the parts would rust and the clock did not keep good time. So it was run with electricity for many years. However, it is now genuine, as parts that don’t rust are able to be made.

We went to The Keg for our tea after the walking tour. We had checked and found it was 400m from where the tour started outside the Waterfront Station and it finished in the station. We were able to be seated immediately, which was welcome as we were hungry by then (8.45pm), enough to convince ourselves to have the steak and lobster special. We were assured the lobsters are flown three times a week from the Atlantic Coast, and they were delicious. We were not put wrong, and thoroughly enjoyed our last dinner in Canada. The train we needed was just 1 minute away as well and we had a smooth trip back to our suite.